Health and Social Care

The health and social care curriculum allows students to gain knowledge and experience that they can transfer to further education or employment. The course is designed to teach students the basic knowledge they need about growth and development from birth to later adulthood and then use this base knowledge to apply it to further units.

Students study the BTEC Tech award in Health and Social Care.

Students will acquire sector-specific applied knowledge through vocational contexts by studying human lifespan development, health and social care services and values, and health and wellbeing.

The Tech Award gives students the opportunity to develop applied knowledge in the following areas:  

• the life stages and key characteristics in the physical, intellectual, emotional and social (PIES) development classifications and the different factors that can affect an individual’s growth and development 
• different life events and how individuals can adapt or be supported through changes caused by life events 
• health and social care conditions, how they can be managed by the individual and the different health and social care services that are available 
• the barriers and obstacles an individual may encounter and how these can be overcome 
• the skills, attributes and values required to give care and how these benefit  the individual
• how factors can affect an individual’s current health and wellbeing
• how physiological indicators and an individual’s lifestyle choices determine physical health
• the use of the person-centred approach 
• recommendations and actions to improving health and wellbeing and the barriers or obstacles individuals may face when following recommendations and the support available to overcome.  

Students study the BTEC Extended Certificate in Health and Social Care 

Students will extend and further develop the sector specific applied knowledge  knowledge gained in KS4 

In Unit 1 students are taken through how as humans we grow and develop and what may impact our growth and development. Throughout the unit students have the chance to complete practice exam style questions that will help them grow in confidence to make them exam ready. In the second half of the year, students complete an internally assessed unit where they apply the knowledge gained from unit 1 along with new learning gained in unit 5 and apply the knowledge to care studies producing a report. 

Throughout this first year, students are able to make links with careers and what skills you would need to demonstrate when working in health and social care. Outside organisations and professionals are invited to come and speak to the students about career prospects and next steps. 

In year 2 students will learn about working in the health care sector in the externally set examined unit 2, which is focused in the roles and responsibilities of people who work in the health and social care sector, the roles of organisations in the health and social care sector, and working with people with specific needs in the health and social care sector. In the internally assessed unit 12 they will develop applied knowledge of supporting individuals with additional needs, learning about the reasons why individuals may experience additional needs, how to overcome the challenges to daily living faced by people with additional needs and current practice with respect to provision for individuals with additional needs .

Throughout the course  outside organisations and professionals are invited to come and speak to the students about career prospects and next steps. 

The Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Certificate in Health and Social Care is generally taken alongside other qualifications as part of a 2-year programme of learning. This will enable learners to progress to a degree programme chosen from a range of programmes in the health and social care sector.

Hours of lessons per fortnight for this subject:

- KS4: 5

- KS5: 8

Pearson BTEC Tech award in Health and Social Care

Pearson BTEC National Extended Certificate in Health and Social Care. 

1 Dedicated classroom with interactive whiteboard and 30 workstations with access to google classroom/Microsoft office.